Stop-motion mechanism.



W. T. BARRATT.

STOP MOTION MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. I6. 1915.

Patented Feb. 29,1916.

4 SHEETSSHEET I- T. BARRATT.

STOP MOTION MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 16. I915.

Patented Feb. 29, 1916.

4 SHEETSSHEET 2.

witness es. kwew- 5 THE COLUMBIA PMNOGRAPH cO-. WASHINGTON, D. c.

W. T. BARRATT.

STOP MOTION MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 15, I915- 1,173,244u. Patented Feb. 29, 1916.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

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STOP MOTION MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED MAR: 16. 1915.

l ,173,244=. Patentfl Feb. 29, 1916.

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WILLIAM T. BARRATT, OF BENNINGTON, VERMONT.

STOP-MOTIGN MECHANISM.

1,173,2l4ld.

Application filed March 16, 1915.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1., WILLIAM T. BARRATT, a citizen of the United States, residing at Bennington, in the county of Bennington and State of Vermont, have invented new and useful Improvements in Stop-\lotion Mechanisms, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in stop motion mechanisms for knitting machines, or in fact for substantially all types of machines in which a. strand or strands of arn are emnlo ed in the construction of v L their products.

The object of this invention is to provide devices constructed and arranged to guide yarns and to cooperate with other instrumentalities when permitted by the breaking or by the sudden or gradual slackening of the strand of yarn passing therethrough, to stop said machine, thus preventing unevenness in the fabric.

Another object of the invention is to provide devices constructed and arranged to be set to detect a predetermined degree of excess tension. or undue strain in the yarn whether such be caused by knots, kinks or enlargements in the strand of yarn being fed to the machine, said devices being adapted upon such detection to cooperate with other instriunentalities to stop the machine.

Still another object of this invention is to construct said detecting devices so that the sensitiveness and effectiveness thereof will not be diminished in the slightest degree by the collection thereon of waste or lint from the yarn passing therethrough, but will be prematurely actuated by the collection of a predetermined amount of said waste to stop the machine before any harm can result therefrom.

Yet another object of this inventionis to provide suitable stop devices which may be normally st to cooperate with said drop devices to stop said machine, said stop devices being arranged to be moved to render said drop devices inoperative whereby the machine may be started.

The device of this invention is particularly adapted to be used in connection with circular knitting machines, and in this class of machines the distance in practice from the bobbin to the needles is very short and the speed of travel of the yarn is very great. It is, therefore. essential that a device of this character should be able to act very quickly Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 29, 1916.

Serial No. 1%,744.

and that the travel of the yarn for the entire distance from the bobbin to the needles should be utilized in stopping the machine and, therefore, that no tension device should be interposed between the bobbins and the needles, for the introduction of such a tendrop devices employed should be sustained by the tension of the yarn while the machine is running, but should not be sustained by said yarn when the machine is stopped and this leads to the necessity in a device of this character of releasing all of the drop devices so that they can be lifted by the tension of the yarn when the machine starts and it the object of this invention to provide a stop device which embodies means for releasing all of the drop devices when the machine is started so that said drop devices may be carried up by the tension of the yarn into their normally operative position while the machine is running, as well as to provide a device which will stop the machine when the yarn slackens or breaks.

The invention consists in the combination and arrangement of parts whereby the above objects and certain other objects hereinaftcr appearing may be attained as set forth in the following specification and particularly pointed out in the claims.

Referring to the drawings: Figure 1 is a plan view of a portion of a knitting machine with a stop motion mechanism embodying invention shown in connection therewith, the upper portions of the frame of said machine being shown in section. Fig. 2 is a side levation of a portion of the knittingv machine illustrating the driving shaft. clutch mechanism. brake and clutch operating mechanism. 3 is a section taken on the line 3% of Fig. 1 illustrating two sets of detecting devices operatively connected together. Figs. 4 and 5 are detail views illustrating the detecting devices and stops for one of the feeds of the knitting machine, means also being illustrated .in said figures for preventing the cotiperatio-n between the detecting means and said stops. Fig. 6 1s a vertical section through the upper and lowerneedle cylinders of the machine illustrating the manner in which the strand or yarn is led from the detecting devices to the needles. Fig. 7 is a somewhat diagrammatic view illustrating the arrangement of the several yarn guides and stop members for each strand of yarn.

Like numerals refer to like parts throughout the several views of the drawings.

In the drawings, 10 is the frame of the machine consisting of standards 11 and 12. A cross frame 13 extends from the standard 11 to the standard 12 and supports a driving shaft 14- journaled to rotate in bearings 15, 15 on said cross frame. A bed plate 16 is also carried by the standardsll and 12 above said crossfra-me, said bed plate constituting asupport for the lower needle cylinder 17 rotatably mounted insaid bed plate andopera'tod asshown lll'PiltQIlt No. 1,000,362, Stop motionfor knitting machine, granted to me August 15, 1911, to which reference may be had.

An upper needle cylinder 18 is arranged to cooperate with the cylinder 17 and to re volve in an upper bed plate 19, said upper bed plate being secured in the usual and well-knownmanner to the standards 11 and 12, this feature being illustrated in the patent hereinbefore referred to. The cylinders-17 and 18 are provided with needles 20 arranged in the usual and wellknown mannerand to'which strands of yarn may be led through suitable thread guides, ac-

cording to the nature of the work to be performed thereby; In'the'present instance a stationary yarn guide 21 is provided through whicha strand of yarn 22is shown passing to the needles.

The driving shaft 14 may be operatively connected to any suitable source of power by any ofthe well known types of clutches and in the present instance I have illustrated a clutch 1 consisting of a pulley 23 which may be loosely mounted on the end of the shaft14', preferably outsideof the frame 11 and between said frame and a bearing 24. The pulley 23 normally rotates loosely on said shaft, but when it is desiredto' operatively connect said pulley withsaidshaft, a coi1e'25, keyed to said shaft 14 an'dadapted to slide longitudinally thereof, isadapted to be moved toward said clutch to engage and lift a finger 26 carried by said pulley and adapted upon being rocked by said cone to cause said pulley to grip the shaft, while the withdrawal of said cone from said finger releases said pulley from said shaft.

The sliding cone is provided with an annular groove 27 into which projects studs 28 carriedby a lever 29, said lever being secured-to a rocker shaft 30 which rocks in bearings3l; 31 on the standard 11. i A normally inoperative mechanism has been provided for in'oving said cone to stop the machine -Th is mechanism: preferably @011 sists of a wheel 32 journaled to rotate upon a stud 33 fast to a bracket 34 which in turn is'secured tothe cross frame 13. A rod 35 is pivoted adjacent the rim of said wheel at 36 and extends through the upper end of a lever 37, which lever is fast to the rocker shaft 30. The outer end of the rod 35 has a stop 38' secured thereto which engages the upper end of said lever 37. A spring 39 is connected to the rod 35 and the standard 11 and normally yieldingly restrains the stop 38 from engaging said lever 37. An arm 40 is pivoted at 41 to the wheel 32 and is held against a stop screw 42 on said wheel by a spring 43, said spring 43 being somewhat stronger than the spring 39.

The free end of the arm 40 is provided with a recess 44*which is'adapted to normally containthe endof'a' dog 45 and to be='yieldingly "held in contact with said dog by the spring 43. The dog45 isfastened to a vertical shaft 46 which may be rocked at certain times in the operation of the machine and by certain devices, hereinafter set forth, to free said dog fromsaid arm and permit the spring-43 to move said wheel.

Connectedwith the driving shaft 14 is a brake mechanism 47 consisting of a toothed disk48 mounted between a pair of disks 49,

said pair of disks being adjustably connected together by screws 50 and secured to the shaft 14 preferably by a screw 51. The friction betweeir the disks 49 and the toothed disk 48 maybe varied by adjusting thescrews 50. A pawl 52 is pivotally arranged upon thecross frame 13 and is adapted to engage the teeth of the disk 48, although said pawl is normally retained out of contact with said teeth by the weight of an arm 53 carried by said pawl; The pawl 52 is loosely connectedat 54 to the outer end 'o'f'an arm 55 which is pivoted at 56 on the I wheel 32. An adjustable stop '57 is provided on the wheel 32 to engage said arm '55 when said wheel is moved by the spring 43' and causes "said arm to move the pawl 52 into engagement with the teeth of the disk 48,-thusbring1ng the shaft 42 to a sudden stop.

The mechanisms hereinbefore described embody -'the preferred form of instrumentalities forbringing the machine to a stop. These instrumentalities however remain normally"inoperative and must be set into operation at certain times in the operation of the machine by delicately constructed mechanismswhich detect excess tension, unnecessary-slackness, broken, knotted, kinked, or enlarged yarns and other conditions which would in any way be detrimental to the production of a perfect fabric.

7 As a preferred method of accomplishing these resultsI'have provided a pair of rotary=shafts 6'0-ea'nd 61 arranged uponoppocollar 69.

site sides of the knitting machine and journaled to rotate in bearings 58, 58 secured to suitable brackets 59 in turn clamped to the standards 11 and 12. The shaft 60 is adapted to operate the mechanisms for all of the feeds on that side of the knitting machine and the shaft 61 is arranged to operate all of the feeds on its side of said knitting machine.

In the drawings, see Fig. 1, four feeds are represented as at A, B, C and D, each feed having two bobbins E in order that either av single or double thread may be supplied to the needles. The mechanisms for all of thetfeeds are identical. Therefore a description of one will be suflicient.

The two shafts 60 and 61 are operatively connected together preferably by a belt 62 whereby said shafts may be operated simultaneously. To one of said shafts, preferably the shaft 60, a rotary motion is imparted from the driving shaft 14 by means of a belt 63 and pulleys 6i and 65 arranged on the driving shaft and said driven shaft re spectively. The pulley 65 is loosely and slidably arranged on the shaft 60 and is provided with one or more projections 66 at the outer end of the hub 67 thereof. The projections 66 are adapted to engage corresponding recesses 68 formed in a collar 69 secured to the shaft 60. A spring 70 encircles the shaft 60 upon the opposite side of said pulley from said hub and is held in contact with said pulley by a collar 71 fast to said shaft, thus yieldingly retaining the projections 66 within the recesses 68 and constitutes yieldingly operable means for the shafts 60 and 61 and is adapted to operate said shafts under normal conditions. Should either of the shafts 60 and 61 be prevented from rotating, the pulley 65, which still continues to rotate, will be moved longitudinally of the shaft 60 in the direction of the arrow a by the forcing of the projections 66 out of the recesses 68 in the An arm 72 attached to a rocker shaft 73 engages the face 7 of the pulley 65 and as said pulley moves in the direction of the arrow a said arm will be moved to impart a rocking movement to the shaft 73. The shaft 7 3 is arranged to rock in bearings 7 5 and has secured thereto a lever 76 connected by a link 77 to an arm 78 fast to the vertical shaft 46. Thus it will be seen that as said pulley moves longitudinally of the shaft 60, the shaft 46 will also be moved to disengage the dog 45 from the arm 40, permitting said arm in turn to be moved by its spring 43 to engage the stop 42 and thereby partially rotate the wheel 32. The wheel 32 then operates the clutch and brake mechanisms to stop the machine.

For each strand of yarn led to the knitting machine there is provided on the shaft 60 or 61 a driven or rotary member, preferably a disk 79. constituting a rotary stop member and having teeth 80 formed in its periphery. See Figs. 3, l, 5 and 7. A normally stationary stop member 81 is arranged adjacent to said rotary stop member and is constructed and arranged to be moved away from said rotary stop member.

The member 81 is preferably a bar and extends longitudinally of and parallel with the shaft upon which the rotary member 79 is attached, said member 81 being secured at opposite ends to slides 82 arranged to reciprocate in bearings 83 mounted upon the brackets -59. Springs 84 are arranged to normally retain said stationary stop in its operative relation to the rotary disk 79, as illustrated in Figs. 3 and 7. The bar 81 and the slides 82, 82 attached thereto constitute as a whole the normally stationary stop member. The stop 81 is also provided with slots 85 in the face thereof ad acent the rotary-stops 79 and into which said rotary stops are adapted to pro ect. A drop device is provided for each of the strands of yarn leading to the machine and consists preferablv of a ring 86 through which the yarn is led in passing from the spool or bobbin E to the yarn guide 21 of the knitting machine, said varn being hereinbefore designated 22. The ring 86 is preferably mounted upon the normally stationary stop member 81 and is guided and held thereon by a pair of guide wires 87 fast to said normally stationary stop member 81 and eX- tending upwardly from said ring. The wires 87 are arranged upon opposite sides of the slot 85 and are adapted to guide the ring 86 between the stationary and movable stops in order to permit said ring to be engaged bv the teeth of the disk 79, where-- upon a further rotation of said disk will be prevented.

A pair of yarn guides 88 and 89 located upon opposite sides and above the drop device or ring 86 are carried by a superimposed structure 90, preferably carried by the slides 82 and movable with the stop member 81. By reason of the positions of the yarn guides 88 and 89 above said rings, said rings which are very light may be normally held by said yarn when under normal tension out of enga ement with said stops 79 and 81, only a sli ht tension of said yarn being necessary. Such tension will however be maintained only while the machine is in operation, consequently as the speed of the machine be ins to decrease the tension of the yarn will correspondingly decrease and said ring Will drop between the stops and thus sto the rotation of the rotary member.

It will be evident that the nearer the ring 86 is held to the stops 79 and 80 the quicker the machine will be stopped when the yarn supporting saidv ring slackens.v Therefore to limit the upward movement of said ring, when desired, a stop 91 has been provided, preferably consisting of a V-shaped plate arranged on the wires 87 and adapted to be held in various positions by the tension of said wires, the under side of said V-shaped stop constituting a guide for the yarn as it passes between said wires. A shoulder92is arranged longitudinally of the normally upper face of the stationary member 81 and adjacent to the wires 87 and is for the purpose of maintaining the ring 86 at an angle to the'horizontal plane when said ring has been dropped by the yarn, thus insuring said ring being inserted between the teeth of the disk 79 and the upper face of the normally stationary member 81.

It has been heretofore stated that the ring or drop wire 86 is permitted to drop into interlocking engagement with the stops 7 9 and 81 and thus stop the rotation of the shaft to which the stop 79 is secured and particularly when the speed of the machine is reduced. It will therefore be-necessary to remove said ring from said teeth before it will-be possible to again start the machine into operation and for convenience stops 81 on both sides of the machine, which are substantially identical in construction, are arrangedto be moved simultaneously toward or away from their respective shafts and consequently into or out of engagement respectively with the stops 79. It will, therefore, be understood that for each of thenorinally stationary stops 81 there is provided a series of rotary stops T 9. To accomplish this result rocker shafts 93 and 91 are ar- "anged beneath the stationary stops 81 of the shafts '60 and 61 respectively. Upon said shafts are secured operating levers 95 adjacent each feed. The levers 95 are adapted to engage the forward edges of the slides including the stops 81 and by moving said leve-rs'95 said slides may be withdrawn from their respective rotary stop members and the rings carried thereby disengaged from the teeth The shafts 93 are operatively connected together by a link 96, see Figs. 1 and'3, and arms 97 and 98 secured to the shafts 93 and 94: respectively, thus producing a simultaneous movement of said shafts when any one of the operating levers is rocked. The springs 84 hereinbefore referred to yieldingly return the slides to their normal positions after the levers .95 have been released. It is sometimes convenient and necessary to hold said slides in their retracted positions, especially when the yarns for the different feeds are being threaded into the machine. To accomplish this result a stop 99 is pivotally supported by the brackets 59 andis adapted to be swung beneath the lever 95-for'the-feed A, as will be seen by re fer-ring to Fig. 5,-.thus;. all. ofsaicl. stationary stops 81 will beretaine-d inthe position as illustrated in said Fig. 5. The drop device or ring 86 and the rotary and stationary stops 79- and'81 will cofiperate tostop the rotation of the shafts 60 and 61 only when said ring 86 is permitted to drop and this can happen only when the tension of the yarn 22 is reduced. f

It has been stated that one ofthe objects of this invention is to provide a device constructed and arranged to be set to detect a predetermined degree of excess tension or undue strain in the yarn whether such be caused by knots, kinks :or enlargements in the yarn being fed to the machine. To accomplishthis resultoneof the pair of yarn guides, preferably the yarn guide 89 (Figs. land ,7) which is in advance of the drop device, consists of a stationary member 100 having a vertically disposed slot 101 opening out of the end thereof. A member 102 is pivoted upon said stationary member and hasa horizontally disposed slot 103 opening out of its free end. The slots 101 and 103 are arranged to 'aline with and cross at an angle to each other, thus together forming the guide eye 89, in which guide eye the side 107i. of said pivoted member constitutes the support for the yarn 22. A nut has screw-threaded engagement with the pivoted member 102 upon the opposite side of the pivot therefor and constitutes an adjustable weight whereby the sustaining power of said pivoted member may be varied, as. desired. By reason of this construction the sensitiveness and effectiveness thereof will not bediminished in theslightest degree by the collection upon the pivoted member 102 of waste or lint from the yarn which is'passing through the slot in its end, more or less of which lint and waste will be scraped off by said lever. It will be evident however that upon the collection of av certain amount of lint or waste upon saidpivoted memberthat the weight of the nutv 105 -willbe overcome and said pivoted member rocked prematurelvto release the yarn therein, thereby resulting in the stopping of the machine before any harm can be done'bv said lint or waste.

Where two strands of yarn are to be employed, as shown at each feed, the mecha nism and setsof yarnguides will be id ntical in each case, but in order to save space the spools E of each feed are placed side b y side in a plane'substantially at right angles to thelongitudinal axis of the shafts 60 and 61; therefore for convenience in operation and also to save space the yarn guides for the spools'E in the same feed are oppositely arranged upon thesuperstructure 90. In the general operation of the machine hereinbefore described the yarn92 is fed from the spool E through the yarn guides 106, S9, 186,; 88:. and. 21, .see. l 3ligs.,..6.

after the needles have been properly threaded one of the levers 95 may be raised and all of the rings or drop members 86 be disconnected from their respective rotary stop members 7 9. The machine is then set into operation by moving the hand lever 107, see Fig. 2, into the position shown in said figure to connect the driving pulley 23 to the shaft 14 previous to which however the wheel 32 must be rotated to withdraw the pawl 52 from the toothed disk as and permit the dog 45 to enter the recess at in the end of the arm 40.

After sufficient momentum has been ob tained by the machine to produce tension on the strand 22 sufficient to retain the ring 86 in its uppermost position against the stop 91, the stop member 81 may be moved toward the rotary stop members in which position it remains during the operation of the machine. Should any knots, kinks, or enlargements appear in the yarn 22 and engage with the yarn guide 106 or 89 the tension of said yarn will be increased beyond a predetermined limit with the result that the pivoted member 102 will be rocked and the yarn contained therein dumped or released, permitting the same to move to the position illustrated in dotted lines Fig. 7, whereupon the drop device 86 will be engaged by the teeth and the shaft 60 will be stopped together with the other shaft 61 operatively connected thereto. The result of this stopping of said shaft 60 is to throw the pulley 74: to the left in the direction of the arrow a, Fig. 1, thereby setting into operation the stop instrnmentalities which were previously inoperative and causing, through the means hereinbefore described, the throwing out of the clutch and applying of the brakes. Should the tension of the yarn be slackened instead of increased the drop device 86 will be moved without disturbing the guide 89, into contact with the rotary stop member 79 and stop the machine as hereinbefore stated.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire by Letters Patent to secure is:

l. A stop motion mechanism for knitting machines having, in combination, a driving shaft, a plurality of rotary stop members, a normally stationary stop member adjacent thereto common to all of said rotary stop members and movable toward and away from said rotary stop members, a plurality of drop devices each constituting a guide for a strand of yarn and normally held out of engagement with said stop members by said strands of yarn when under tension during the operation of said knitting machine and means movable with said normally stationary stop member and constructed and arranged to guide said drop devices between and into interlocking engagement with said stops when said drop devices are allowed to drop by said strands of yarn, whereby the rotation of said rotary stop members may be stopped while said normally stationary stop member is stationary and mechanism actuated by the stopping of said rotary top members constructed and arranged to stop the rotation of said driving shaft.

2. A stop motion mechanism for a knitting machine having, in combination, a retary stop member, a normally stationary stop member adjacent to said rotary stop member and movable toward and away from said rotary stop member, a drop device constituting a guide for a strand of yarn and normally held out of engagement with said stops'by said yarn when'under tension during the operation of said knitting machine and means movable with said normally stationary stop member and constructed and arranged to guide said drop device between and into interlocking engagement with said stops when said drop device is allowed to drop by said yarn, whereby while said normally stationary stop member is stationary the rotation of said rotary stop member may be stopped.

3. A stop motion mechanism for knitting machines having, in combination, a driving shaft, a rotary stop member, a normally stationary stop member adjacent thereto, means constructed and arranged to move said normally stationary stop member away from said rotary stop member, a drop device constituting a guide for a strand of yarn and normally held out of engagement with said stops by said yarn when under tension during the operation of said knitting machine, means movable with said normally stationary stop member constructed and arranged to guide said drop device between and into interlocking engagement with said stops when said drop device is allowed to drop by said yarn, whereby while said normally stationary stop member is stationary the rotation of said rotary stop member, may be stopped and mechanism actuated by the stopping of said rotary stop member constructed and arranged to stop the rotation of said driving shaft.

4. A stop motion mechanism for knitting machines having, in combination, a driving shaft, a rotary stop member, a normally stationary stop member adjacent thereto movabletoward and away from said rotary stop member and having a slot therein into which said rotary stop member is arranged to project, a drop device constituting a guide for a strand of yarn and normally held out of engagement with said stops by said yarn when under tension during the operation of said knitting machine, means constructed and arranged to guide said drop device between and into interlocking engagement with'said stops when said drop;

device is allowed to drop by said yarn whereby while said normally stationary stop member is stationary the rotation of said rotary member may be stopped and mechanism actuated by the stopping of said rotary member constructed and arranged to stop the rotation of said driving shaft.

5. A stop motion mechanism for knitting machines having, in combination, a driving shaft, a rotary stop member comprising a disk with teeth on its periphery, a normally stationary stop member movable toward and away from said rotary stop member, said normally stationary stop member being provided with a slot into which said disk is arranged to project, a ring constituting a guide for a strand of yarn and normally held out of engagement with said stops by said yarn when under tension during the operation of said knitting machine, means constructed and arranged to guide said ring into interlocking engagement with said stops when said ring is allowed to drop by said yarn, whereby while said stationary stop member is stationary the rotation of said'rotary stop member may be stopped, a stop constructed and arranged to position said ring relatively to said rotary and normally stationary stop members while said yarn is under tension and mechanism actuated by the stopping of said rotary member constructed and arranged to stop the rotation of said driving shaft.

6. A. stop motion mechanism for knitting machines having. in combination, a driving shaft, a rotary stop member comprising a disk with teeth on its periphery, a normally stationary stop member movable toward and away from said rotary stop member and provided with a slot into which said disk is arranged to project, a ring constituting a guide for a strand of yarn and normally held out of engagement with said stops by said yarn when under tension during the operation of said knitting machine, a pair of wires fast to said stationary stop memher and projecting through said ring and arranged to guide said ring into interlocking engagement with said disk and stationary stop when said ring is allowed to drop by said yarn, a stop plate slidable on said wires and constructed and arranged to position said rin relatively to said rotary and normally stationary stop members while said yarn is under tension, whereby the rotation of said rotary stop member may be stopped, and mechanism actuated by the stopping of said rotary stop member constructed and arranged to stop the rotation of said driving shaft.

7. A st p motion mechanism for knitting machines having. in-combination. a driving shaft. a rotary stop mem er, a slide adjacentthereto normally stationary and con-- stituting a stop, a drop device constituting member constructed and arranged to stop the rotation of said driving shaft.

8. A stop motion mechanism for knitting machines having, in combination, a driving shaft, a plurality of series of rotary stop members, a normally stationary stop adjacent to each of said series of rotary stop members, respectively, and movable toward and away from said rotary stop members, a drop device for each of said rotary stop members, said drop devices each constituting a guide for-a strand of yarn and normally held out of engagement with its respective rotarymember by said yarn when under tension during the operation of said knitting machine, means mounted on each of said normally stationary stop members constructed and arranged to guide each of said drop devices between and into interlocking engagement with one of said rotary stopmembers and its respective stationarystop member whereby the rotation of said rotary stop members may be stopped and means constructed and arranged to simultaneously move said stationary stops with said drop devices away from their respective rotarystop members, whereby each ofsaid drop.

guide for a strand of yarn and normally he d out of engagement with said-stops by said yarn when under tension during the knitting operation, a pair of wires fast'to said stationary stop member and projecting through said ring and arranged to guide said ring into interlocking engagement with said disk and normally stationary stop when said ring is'allowed to drop by said yarn, the upper face of said stationary stop being formed with a shoulder arranged to position said ring at an angle to a horizontal plane, whereby while said normally stationary stop member is stationary the rotation of said rotary stop member may be stopped, and mechanism actuated by the stopping of said rotary stop member constructed and arranged to stop the rotation of said driving shaft.

10. A guide for a strand of yarn comprising a stationary member having a vertically disposed slot opening out of one end thereof anda pivoted member immediately adjacent to said stationary member and provided with a horizontally disposed slot opening out of the free end thereof, said slcts being located in alinement with and crossing each other at an angle, said members forming together a guide-eye for said strand of yarn and yarn guides on opposite sides of said guide eye arranged to lead said yarn to said guide eye at an angle, whereby excess tension applied to said yarn will cause the pivoted member to tip and release said yarn from said guide eye.

11. A guide for a strand of yarn comprising a stationary member and a lever, a pivot for said lever, a counter-balance at one side of said pivot, said lever having a horizontally disposed slot opening out of its free end and said stationary member having a vertically disposed slot opening out of its lower end, said lever and stationary member being immediately adjacent to each other and said slots being located in alinement with and crossing each other at an angle, whereby said members form together a guide eye for said strand of yarn and yarn guides located on opposite sides or" said guide eye arranged to lead said yarn to said guide eye at an angle, whereby tension applied to said yarn will cause said lever to tip and release said lever from said guide eye.

12. A stop motion mechanism for imitting machines having, in combination, a driving shaft, a driven member constituting a stop, a normally stationary stop member adjacent thereto and movable toward and away from said driven member, a drop device constituting a guide for a strand of yarn and normally held out of engagement with said stops by said yarn when under tension during the operation of said knitting machine and means movable with said normally stationary stop member constructed and arranged to guide said drop device between and into interlocking en gagement with said stops when said drop device is allowed to drop by said yarn, whereby while said normally stationary stop member is stationary the movement of said driven member may be stopped, and mechanism actuated by the stopping of said driven member constructed and arranged to stop the rotation of said driving shaft.

13. A stop motion mechanism for knitting machines having, in combination, a stop mechanism, a drop device constituting a guide for a strand of yarn and normally held out of engagement with said stop mechanism by said yarn, means constructed and arranged to guide said drop device into interlocking engagement with said stop mechanism when said drop device is allowed to drop by said yarn, a yarn guide located in advance of said drop device, said yarn guide constructed and arranged to drop said yarn when said yarn is subjected to excess tension, and means constructed and arranged to move said drop device out of engagement with said stop mechanism, whereby said drop device may be drawn upwardly by said yarn when placed under tension.

14:. A stop motion mechanism for knitting machines having, in combination, a rotary stop member, a normally stationary stop member adjacent thereto, means constructed and arranged to move said normally stationary stop member away from said rotary stop member, a drop device constituting a guide for a strand of yarn and normally held out of engagement with said stops by said yarn when under tension during the operation of said knitting machine, means movable with said normally stationary stop member constructed and arranged to guide said drop device between and into interlocking engagement with said stops when said drop device is allowed to drop by said yarn, whereby while said normally stationary stop member is stationary the rotation of said rotary stop member maybe stopped, and means constructed and arranged to lock said stationary stop member in said last-named position.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

WILLIAM T. BARRATT.

Witnesses:

SYDNEY E. TAFT, MARGARET E. Horn.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

